


Recovery - a loose collection of small stories

by Dark_Falcon



Series: Recovery - dbz au [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Fluff, Multi, Original Character(s), Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-05
Updated: 2019-01-07
Packaged: 2019-09-07 15:57:35
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 9
Words: 8,217
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16856992
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Dark_Falcon/pseuds/Dark_Falcon
Summary: Raditz, Broly and Turles try to make a life for themselves on Earth.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Crossposted from Tumblr. I'll be putting several of my works in here as a backup and I'm a bit of a hurry so, um sorry, but my grammar and spelling aren't probably the best now. I'll try to fix it later. 
> 
> Chapters are more like separate ficlets from the same AU. They are not put together in the particular chronological order. 
> 
> If you are familiar with my other DBZ fic, this one is based on a similar set of headcanons, except the encounter between Raditz, Goku and Piccolo took diametrically different turn. Also Broly and Turles exist in this one.

 

The sun was setting, ChiChi’s Dad had been preparing the evening meal in the kitchen. She was very grateful as she was just to tired to do it herself. Gohan and Broly dosed off on the couch, a biology textbook between them. ChiChi took the book out of her son’s hands and covered him and the large Saiyan with a blanket. Gently she brushed the bangs of her boy’s forehead. 

That left one person unaccounted for. ChiChi went to the bedroom room and sure enough Raditz had been there starring quietly at the baby in the crib. He made no sign to acknowledge her entrance. ChiChi moved closer to stand next to him. 

“Are you sure it is alright to leave him like that?” Raditz asked in the hushed voice not taking eyes off the baby.

ChiChi noticed his tail had been in the crib the whole time, laying along baby’s body and the tip gently stroke baby's mop of hair. 

Peculiarly, Goten had been born with the head full of hair. 

“It’s fine, he’s warm and comfortable there,” ChiChi assured Raditz. They had talked about it already: Raditz thought new born babies should be carried around all the time by their caretakers or that they should be put in an incubator of a sort. 

Initially ChiChi had been shocked how much Raditz knew about pregnancy and infant care. Raditz in turn had been shocked that anyone could consider his knowledge about the topic extensive. Almost half of the Saiyan population go through pregnancy during lifetime, usually several times, making it one of the most common medical conditions, apparently it was only logical to teach anyone how to deal with it, especially since there were plenty of opportunities for gaining practical experience. On his part Raditz had been surprised how freaked out humans can be by normal functions of female body and considered his own knowledge rudimentary at best if not outright lacking. Well that’s cultural differences for you. It was convenient to have him around to say the least, even though she had to listen to more than one rant about improper birthing positions. 

“He looks like Kakarot, although his hair is much shorter,” Raditz mused. “I remember… I went to see him whenever I could when he was still in his incubator.” 

ChiChi listened interested. She wondered if she should encouraged him to tell her more. He had trouble communicating more complex emotional issues. It wasn’t that he was unwilling to, on the contrary, it seemed he was happy to finally find someone who would hear him out. In fact he was so much of a chatter box at times it could be annoying. However he struggle to find the right language to express himself and some things were just to difficult to reconcile with Saiyan- specific nonsense he was exposed to his whole life. 

“He looked so lonely in there,” Raditz continued. “I used to talk to him when was awake. I don’t know why I did that. It makes no sense. I think I wanted him to know, who his brother is.”

“It’s fine.” ChiChi stroke his forearm reassuringly. The touch was important. Even though they spoke the same langue they often did not understood one another - their life experiences were too different. ChiChi recalled that for a long time Raditz just looked at her strangely whenever she thanked him for anything. He would either leave or awkwardly start talking about something else. She just thought he’s manners were very poor (which was true regardless anything else), until one day she patted his hand while thanking him. He brightened up immediately. Later when they talked about it, it turned out he thought she was dismissing him. How cold she must had seem to him! She was sure he now understood the meaning as the expression of gratitude, but she would still pat him to reinforce the message. 

“The baby laying all alone like that reminds me about it.”

Oh! ChiChi managed to piece together what Raditz wanted to say.“I’ll be here for him, when he wakes up,” ChiChi assured with a smile as she kept  stroking his forearm. “I appreciate…” she paused looking for words, she didn’t want him to misunderstand her due to cultural differences, “that you show responsibility for the baby’s well being including his emotional well being. I’m glad that you want to make sure the baby is both healthy and happy. This a good thing.”  She didn’t expect verbal answer. 

Raditz nodded and reached out to stroke her lose hair. They established that earlier too. Touching hair was apparently very important to Saiyans. She on the other hand didn’t always wanted to have anyone touch her hair. So they made rules - she only permitted Raditz to touch her hair when it was untied. Raditz was still trying to persuade her Dad, of all things, to let him stroke _his_ hair. And he was winning her Dad over. 

Raditz was right ChiChi noted to herself with painful longing, Goten looked a lot like her husband. She missed him. She missed him terribly. She wished he could be there with them sharing this moment. She leaned closer to her brother in law, who wrapped his arms around her. She wasn’t sure if he noticed her sadness, but she knew he carried regret of his own - he never manged to reconcile with his brother.

They stood for a moment in silence until ChiChi yawned. “Can you go help Dad in the kitchen? I’m going to lay down a bit until the supper is ready.”  Dad had banned Raditz from cooking alone, but he would appreciate assistance. For some reason Dad had been the only one, who couldn’t quite handle the taste of Saiyan cuisine. Strangely she herself didn’t mind and neither did Gohan.

“Yeah, I’ll do that. You need to eat plenty if you want continue to breast feed Goten.” He let her go and went away.

Truth to be told if someone told her she was going to be friends with her brother in law a few months ago should just laugh it of, yet there they were.

 


	2. Broly likes Raditz

Raditz had so many scars. He had some anywhere Broly could have think of,  on his arms, legs, torso, even face. Most just weren’t visible unless you got really close and look carefully. Broly hadn't had any. He wasn’t in that many fights, at least he couldn’t remember being in many, he might had been in some when he wan’t quite himself. He was pretty much invincible so he never actually got hurt. 

The pair had been walking around the forest. Raditz meant to show Broly how to identify a specific plant and they were going to the area where Raditz knew they could find some. They could have flown and made the journey shorter but walking was much more interesting. On the ground you could encounter many more inciting things that in the air. Well at least on Earth. Raditz told him about the planets, where everything lived in the air and the ground was completely barren.

Raditz seemed like the most interesting person Broly have ever met. It was most likely because he was the only person he actually got to know, at least in recent years. Oh sure, he encountered plenty of people while he was under the influence of mind controlling device, but it was as if he was looking at pre-recorded video message, and a one that didn’t have any particular meaning to him for that matter. Broly thought he was missing out. He could have met people as interesting as Raditz.

Raditz was getting ahead of him down the path. Broly shook away his thought and caught on to the other. Once he got close to Raditz he took his hand and wrapped his fingers around it. The skin on Raditz’s hand was hard and calloused. In fact all of Raditz skin was much rougher than Broly’s. Raditz’s whole body seemed so lived in. It was beautiful and it was making Broly self-conscious. His body was smooth, untouched by the struggle of the everyday, like a body of someone who never actually lived.

Raditz looked at Broly quizzically.

“I... um... like your hand... uh... I like how it feels,” Broly explained lamely. “Can I maybe hold it for a bit?” 

Raditz burst with  laughter. “Only as long as you promise you wont break it.” He answered. 

Broly stiffened and almost drew away his hand before Raditz realized his blunder and hold him back.

“Fuck. It’s alright. That was a joke. I know you won’t accidentally break me any more. You improved and I feel confident. So stop sulking and Saiyan up.”

“Really?” Broly asked.

“Sure. You can hold my hand as long you like. You can also hold my foot if you like, but only when I’m not using it for walking or standing,” Raditz reassured him some more.

“Sounds good.” Broly nodded.   


	3. Parsni does nails

Thud. Turles slammed his hand on the table in front of Chichi and Bulma, interrupting their conversation and causing both women to look up at him. 

“Look how Parsni did my nails!” he exclaimed enthusiastically. “She is so talented. That is exactly how I wanted them done.”

His nails, as well as cuticles and skin around them, were unevenly covered with red nail polish. Some fingers were smeared with red almost up to knuckles. Obviously a handiwork of a two year old. 

“Is it?” Bulma teased.

“Totally.” He presented both hands with outstretched fingers. “It looks as if I just killed something with my bare hands. You humans find this kind of beautification sexy, yes?” He arched his eyebrow at Chichi.

“Not really,” Chichi grumbled. Meanwhile Raditz with Parsni and Broly approached them as well.

“Depends who you ask,” said Bulma. “It’s nice of you to let Parsni did it. That’s kinda cute actually.”

Turles grinned contented.

“Where did Parsni get the idea? It’s not the sort of thing you guys could come up with?” Chichi asked.

“At Marron’s,” Raditz answered, bouncing Parsni up and down with one arm. “She and Eighteen also gave Parsni some of those nail paints. And Parsni really wanted to try them as we got back home. By the way I got purple and Broly got blue.”

Chichi should have guessed that. Marron was only child of similar age, and the only girl, Parsni was allowed to play with. So far both girls got together famously, but they were watched over by aware adults at all times. Parsni could strangle a boar when left unsupervised for just a few minutes after all. She hadn’t started talking yet, so it was hard to tell how much she actually comprehended. There was no telling what she could do to a human child if she threw a tantrum, even though up until now she was sweet and gentle. 

“Not as cool as red,” Turles judged.

“I don’t know.”  Raditz casually thrown Parsni over his shoulder, causing her to laugh and Bulma and Chichi to gasp, before he effortlessly caught her with his tail. 

Chichi sighed. She should be really accustomed to such antics by now.  

Raditz gave his hands a contemplative look. “Namakian blood is this color,” he said finally. “This is oddly satisfying.”

Meanwhile Parsni managed to climb up is hair and over his shoulders to drop back in his arms.

“Parsni, you make me happy, “ Raditz told her with a smile to her obvious delight. 

“We still have some of the left over polish,” Broly remind them.

“Yeah, that’s why we came,” Turles agreed, fishing out nail polishes from his pocket and putting them in front of Bulma and Chichi

Raditz sat Parsni on the table. “So which of you wants their nails done first?”

 

 


	4. New pet?

“Is that a living Tiger” ChiChi exclaimed.

“Yup,” Turles confirmed “A dead one wouldn’t be much fun, would it?”  

ChiChi looked from a tiger to the Saiyan, who had been holding it like some overgrown kitten. The tiger looked... miffed but baffled, while Turles grinned obviously pleased with himself. His clothes were somewhat tattered and torn and he might have some light scratches here and there but was otherwise unharmed (of course). ChiChi noticed, not for the first time, how much bigger and sharper Saiyan canines were. Apparently big enough to intimidate the tiger. 

“Why?” ChiChi asked exasperated, even more so because no one else seemed to be concerned about the situation. Worse, the children were obviously excited.

“Can I pet Mr Tiger?” Goten asked. Parsni just squalled  - little girl couldn’t talk yet.

“Sure!” and “No!” said Tureles and ChiChi respectively. 

“Parsni likes those creatures,” Raditz supplied scooping his daughter from the ground. He send the tiger very intense warning glare and held Parsni up so that she could pet it. Now the tiger looked even more baffled but to it’s credit it stay put letting little hands pet him without a sign of protestation.

“I think Turles wanted... how you people say it... be nice”

“Nah, I just thought it’d be fun, “ Turles scoffed at the ‘accusation’.

“I don’t think Parsni is old enough to tussle with it. She is strong, but her flesh is delicate,” Raditz said.”We’re not keeping it.”

ChiChi sighed. Goten was pouting at her for not letting him pet the tiger, while Turles was pouting at Raditz for no other reason than having an ounce of common sense. 

“Goten you can pet the tiger, but be careful and only pet it’s back,” ChiChi caved. “And you-” she looked at Turles “-will take it back where you took it from, is that clear.”

Turles gulped. “Yes!”


	5. Kitty

Raditz was intrigued by a little black feline perched on the old Earthling’s shoulder. Among other things he wondered how the animal was able to withstand disgusting nicotine stench said Earthling emitted. 

“Do you hold it as a future snack or is this by a chance your ally?” He asked indicating the cat.

“What?” Dr Briefs uttered bemused. “Scratch a friend, of course,” He asserted and scratched cat’s head. 

“What does it do?” Raditz asked. The cat was a small predator, certainly too weak to accompany even such frail creature as human in a fight. Of course Earthlings weren’t warriors and tiny allies might have been of some different use to them. 

“Oh, he just provides company. In the past and in many rural areas people keep cats for pest control, but he doesn’t need to do that here.”

To that Raditz nodded solemnly. 

“Do you want to pet him?” Dr Briefs offered but he soon reflected: “I mean, you won’t eat him, will you?” 

“I won’t eat any ally of the House Vegeta chooses to call his.” Raditz assured. To be honest he wasn’t quite certain about Vegeta’s relationship to those Earthlings, but that was the closes approximation he could come up with. Well... not quite. It actually seemed like Vegeta was adopted into the House, rather than took over, but Raditz absolutely didn’t want Vegeta to accidentally overhear him state that.

“In that case it’s fine,” Dr Briefs said as he let cat down on the ground.   

Raditz looked at Broly, who also seemed to observed the cat with interest. He gave the younger Saiyan encouraging smile as he knelt next to the cat. He let the cat sniff him first, before leaning down to allow himself to scent the creature as well. Unfortunately it smelled a lot of those nefarious cigarettes, but he managed to discern it’s own odor underneath.  

The can rubbed its head against his hand. Well he could certainly got used to that. Maybe making such an animal his ally was worth considering. He nuzzled the cat a bit as well. It made a mewling sound. 

Raditz straightened a little and looked at Broly again.

“You want to pet it,” Raditz stated. The cat was a novelty, and, well, Saiyans were curious animals after all. 

“It’s so small and seem so frail,” Broly whispered. He was still very anxious about touching almost anything, particularly if it was alive. 

“How about this?” Raditz stood up and gently lifted a cat from the ground to Broly’s face, so that the Saiyan and the feline could scent one another properly. 

The cat licked Broly’s nose. 

“Now, that you know each other...” Raditz plopped the cat on Broly’s head. Neither of them seem to mind.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been wondering how would Saiyana interact with companion animals for quite some time. When I saw a really cute fanart by [Kibble-bits](http://kibbles-bits.tumblr.com/) (of The Legendary Supers Saiyan and the power of Friendship AU) I decided I want to write my own take for my own AU.
> 
> If you ever affiliate with a Saiyan and you have a pet, I can't stress enough how important it is that you explain to your Saiyan buddy the the relationship between you and the animal is that of companionship. 
> 
> On the unrelated note I'm lying to you in the tags. This au is actually Broly/Raditz/Turles, but I just have any scenes in mind for Raditz/Turles or Broly/Turles that could be interpret by a human reader as a sign of romantic involvement, so I'm not putting it in the tags in order not disappoint people who look through tags for their ships (I assume Turles had no prior relationship to others, and the aren't genetically relate either, at least not any closer than two random members of the same race). 
> 
> Also it would be cool if I got some feedback from the readers.


	6. Bardock gets home

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This one can serve as a flashback both for Recover as well as You cannot take it back make it undone.

Bardock walked across the terrace at the entrance to their House. The new shining building still felt unfamiliar. Built by the engineers from outside of the planet and their machines it was a far cry from traditional Saiyan dwelling. It smelled wrong even after several seasons of use. More like a space bases of Frieza’s Force than home. He missed their old house, despite the fact the new one came with many conveniences. 

The terrace was bustling with activity. Some teams were returning from missions and coincidentally at the same time other Housemates were leaving for the space port and people were greeting each other. Adding to the racket some of their children were playing tug-tag-tackle... Bardock didn’t particularly care. He  was looking for one person and he didn’t see her here. Gods it was too long.

A glimpse of long hair swishing around adults’ legs got Bardock’s attention. The next time the hair was dashing past him he reach down and grabbed it lifting up a small child.

“As I though... Raditz,” Bardock gruffed. After all with all this hair who else could it be.

“You got me!” Raditz shouted happily. “You didn't tell you were playing,” he reproached. 

Bardock held up the little boy by his hair. “Brat, I just got back, I don’t care.  Where’s...” he didn’t manged to finish before another child jumped up and caught Raditz by waist.

“You got ‘Itz!” the other kid shouted as he started to rock Raditz who still dangled from Bardock’s grip.

“Don’t care.” Getting into tug-tag-tackle with a bunch of children was about the last thing on Bardock’s agenda right now.

“You know what happened?” Raditz asked suddenly smiling, and that smile was all Gine. “You know? I’m gonna be brother!” he exclaimed enthusiastically and smiled at Bardock knowingly as if the two of them were sharing some secret. That little brat!

“Where’s Gine?” Bardock asked processing the new information. 

“She’s in the garden,” Raditz answered smirking. 

At that moment the other kid screamed “Throw us! Throw us!” apparently understanding that they didn’t got a new playmate and trying to make the best out of situation. 

Almost immediately Raditz joined in.

Bardock shrugged and flicked them both back to a delighted squeal. Without the further ado he went to find Gine. Congratulations were  due. 


	7. Maybe one day...

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> ChiChi tries to determine the nature of relationship between her brother in law and Broly.

ChiChi sighed. They hardly let her do anything this days. That’s why Raditz and Broly had been helping her out in the garden of all things. She just sat on the stool and looked through all the vegetables they’ve collected cutting out inedible or otherwise spoiled parts. She decided they have gathered enough for the supper she stood up and brushed.

Meanwhile Raditz started to sniff and crawled over nearest tree to inspect it’s roots. That was a thing she was still getting used to. Saiyans didn’t always act like humans.

“What is it?” she asked.

“Nothing much, just an animal peed here.”

ChiChi groaned. Of course. “And why you think it’s important?”

“Er... I want to know what kind of animals live here and if they carry any diseases. You know, so I know how to make sure the baby is safe.” Broly moved next to him and started sniffing the same area.

“So, what kind of animal it is?” Broly asked.

“I don’t know what’s it’s called. An angry little fucker. About this big.” He gestured indicating the size of the animal. “I think I have a pelt somewhere, I’ll show you later.”

“Language!” Chichi reminded him. She shook her head. “I think we can head home,” she told them.

“Sure.” Raditz approached her and lifted the huge basket filled with the veggies.

“Broly, be a dear and take those to the compost.” ChiChi indicated towards the pile of refuse. Broly just nodded and started to collect it.

“Oh, and the two of you wash yourselves once we get home. Remember the soap.” Raditz snickered at her, but she knew better. The’d shower readily enough, thank God, but they were still under an impression soap was optional. Was it ridiculous she had to remind them each time? Not as ridiculous as getting Raditz to use the shampoo. He still thought it was unnatural. Today she was to just tired to fight this battle. How did her life come to this?

* * *

 

Later that evening ChiChi sat in the rocking chair kitting baby socks. It was an hour past Gohan’s bedtime and her father had already retired for the evening as well. She was alone with the Saiyans. She often let them stay for the night. They did help with the chores after all, and they didn’t have a proper house on their own. It seemed like neither of them thought they needed one and she couldn’t quite follow their reasoning why. Still she just felt a little bad for them so she usually invited them over.

She peered over her knitting needles. Raditz sat on the carpet in front of her, in the safe distance from her chair, with Broly’s head laying on his lap. Raditz told stories about planets he visited (per ChiChi's request only the ones he visited in peaceful manner).

Raditz combed Broly’s hair with his fingers. They [humans] got both of them combs and brushes, but the Saiyans, after a very brief period of initial fascination, didn’t quite take to this “new” technology. If she understood correctly, taking care of hair was a very significant social experience and the utensils just didn’t fit with how it was practiced.

The two of them looked so content at the moment. Broly had been tracing the net of scars on Raditz thigh. He smiled so tenderly. Seeing them like that made ChiChi curious. They looked so intimate.

She never met a same sex couple. The idea was relatively new to her, she occasionally heard about it on tv and radio programmes. She knew many people were prejudiced. Personally she didn't mind at all. On the contrary she thought it was ridiculous - how could anyone be so cruel to shun or outright attack another solely due the fact they loved and wanted to live with the person of the same gender.

On the other hand it was difficult to interpret any behavior displayed by Saiyans as they belonged to an alien culture.

“Can I ask you two a question?”

Raditz raised his eyes at her. “Sure what is it?”

“Uhm..." how was she supposed to ask them?! "How serious are the two of you about your relationship?"

"What do you mean?" Raditz asked bemused.

"Do you plan to... be together?"

"The's just so many of us left, so of course we plan to stay together."

"What I mean... Are the two of you romantically involved? It's not an offensive question to you, is it?" ChiChi tried again without much hope.

"I don't understand what 'romantically' means. Broly?"

"I don't know either."

She should have anticipated that. Raditz hadn't know what marriage was before he came to Earth, and while Broly have somehow knew what it was, the idea he had about it would fit much better with medieval royalty than in modern times, so ChiChi had to explain it to both of them the other day. It was very difficult to do- they didn't knew what 'love' was either.

"Do you want to get married in the future?"

"You mean like Panchy and Dr Briefs?" Broly sat up. ChiChi thought he suddenly looked interested.

"Yes." Thank God they actually met a married couple. They also know she and her Goku were married but they never see them interact as a couple. "I think you would look cute... it's not a insulting thing to say to a Saiyan is it?"

"Hm... no. Not as long you actually think a Saiyan is cute and you don't just say it to patronize us," Raditz answered. "Although-" he's bow furrowed, "- I don't think anyone would actually call an adult Saiyan cute."

"Does that mean you think Saiyan children are cute?" ChiChi inquired curiously.

"Well-," Raditz flashed a crooked smile "-maybe. Adults would say it sometimes about the brats. Gine sure thought babies were cute." His smile got warmer but his eyes dropped a little with subtle sadness. Gine was Raditz's and Goku's mother. From the way Raditz talked about her and how his face changed it was clear he was actually very fond of her.

"I think you are cute." Broly leaned towards Raditz and rubbed a side of his head against the other's in a gesture ChiChi was confident was a Saiyan equivalent of the forehead kiss. "Maybe mere beautiful, than cute, really." Broly added.

Well that was an interesting development.

"You think..." Raditz pushed Broly back on the carpet with the full weight of his body and his overly long mane hid both of them from ChiChi's view.

"No wrestling in the house," ChiChi reminded.

"All right." Raditz sat up laughing. "Back to your question. I don't see the point in getting married."

"We could get a feast. You do get a lot of food when you get married right?" Broly reminded. ChiChi showed them photos from her and Goku's wedding the other day.

"I think we can do those things without getting married. It sounds like such a drag." Raditz was skeptical.

ChiChi hide a giggle behind her hands. "You shouldn't marry just because you want the food," she admonished gently. "But if you want to marry one day I wish you would know it's all right and I would support you." Their cluelessness was endearing in how much it reminded her about Goku. She still wan't sure about the relationship between Raditz and Broly. But maybe there was a spark in there. Maybe they just need some time to digest new ideas. Maybe one day...

 


	8. What do you do when someone cries?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> sometimes emotions become overwhelming. ChiChi and Raditz have a conversation.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys, to make it eayesr for you to follow what's going on this is the chronological order of the chapters:  
> Chapter 6 (Bardock gets home)  
> Chapter 2 (Broly likes Raditz)  
> Chapter 5 (Kitty)  
> Chapter 8 (present chapter - What do you when someone cries?)  
> Chapter 7 (Maybe one day...)  
> Chapter 1  
> Chapter 3 (Parsni does nails)/Chapter 4 (New Pet?) - idk which comes first, they take place around the same time.
> 
> Also Merry Post Christmas period of time and happy New Year.

Chichi had been washing the dishes and everything was fine. Until it wasn't. She was all alone in the kitchen and suddenly everything seemed out of place. Her husband wasn't there any more. He just wasn't there. How was she supposed to live the rest of her life without him? She was still young. How was she supposed to rise Gohan and the new baby growing inside of her in his absence? I wan't fair! Her new baby would never know their father. The wave of inconsolable sadness overwhelmed her and she started to cry. It was ridiculous, part of her thought. She already grieved after him. It had been months. She had job to do, children to raise. No matter, all she could do was to sob loudly while a stream of tears run down her cheeks and nose. She started shiver and hid her face in her hands.

"Little sister! Little sister!" She did not noticed when Raditz entered the kitchen but he was right next to her now. "Tell me where it hurts? Do I need to take you to the medical facility again?" he asked concerned. 

"I..." Chichi got hold of Raditz arm. That grounded her. "It's fine," she sniffed. "I'm not in pain." She was glad it was Raditz, who found her and not her Father or Gohan. She wouldn't want either of them to worry. Especially her son, who was still a child and went through so much already. Luckily Dad and Gohan went to the market in the nearby village and apparently Broly went with them. Raditz stayed to replace broken tiles on the roof and help with other chores. 

"Then..." Raditz tried to slip away from her grasp, apparently uncomfortable with her display of emotions. She didn't want him to go. To be honest she wasn't particularly thrilled that he found her crying, but as that couldn't be amended any longer, she didn't want to be left alone.

Chichi grabbed Raditz's wrist, before he could move any further away. 

"What do you want now?" he sounded annoyed.

"You need to grow up," Chichi told him through her tears.

"I'm grown already," Raditz snarled and tried to pull his hand away from her grasp. He was far stronger than her and she couldn't reasonably hold him be force. The fact that stayed and and didn't tear away was a good sign. 

Chichi shook her head. "You need to grow up as a person." Chichi sniffed. "You need to grow to deal with emotions and the way humans show them." 

Raditz fidgeted uncomfortably. 

"Just stay with me," Chichi pleaded.

To her surprise it worked. Instead of moving away, Raditz neared her and gently pulled her into an embrace.

Raditz didn't know what to think. He had very conflicted feelings about the whole situation. Firstly he was really glad his new little sister and her baby were okay. But she was acting in a way unbecoming for a Saiyan adult. Which she technically wasn't. Still, she was a warrior. And she wanted something from him, but he just couldn't guess what it was. He apparently had the right idea about hugging her as she reciprocated. He didn't want to witness her crying. The most respectful way he could act for a Saiyan was to pretend he didn't see anything and go away. But at the same time holding her like that made him feel somewhat warm inside and big. And not just because he was physically much larger than her. It was kind of like when he hold Broly whenever the later got upset and needed to be calmed down. But it was different too. Saiyans never talked about weird, complex emotions like that so he didn't know how to best interpret it. 

The physical contact had been nice, though. Humans didn't touch as much as Saiyans so the human house mates tend to withdraw from it more than Raditz would like. 

They stood embracing for a while and Chichi quieted down. Eventually Raditz scooped her in his arms and went to the other room - the one with entertainment screen. There he seated himself on a couch, the closest approximation of a nest in this house he could think of, and put the petite warrior on his lap. There were rooms and beds for sleeping, but since humans preferred to sleep separately, he reckoned neither of those could count as a nest. He didn't know what else to do. Chichi still looked miserable and even though she stopped sobbing tears still run down her face. 

"If you let down your hair I could groom it for you," he said finally. She wore it up and he didn't want to accidentally pull it while undoing the tie.

That caught Chichi off guard. "Eh... that's nice of you, but no thank you." She was suddenly very self-conscious. She felt like a little girl sitting on Raditz lap. Worse yet, for an outside observer saw a women sitting on the lap of a 'man', who was not her husband... well it must looked inappropriate. She couldn't blame Raditz, really, he had very little idea what was appropriate and what was not.  She was sure he meant well.

"Mhm... suit yourself." Raditz sounded disappointed. He lifter her chin up and neared his face to hers. "You look red and puffy. Is it normal for someone crying for so long or do you have an allergic reaction of some sort."

Had it really been so long. Chichi wondered as she frantically looked for a handkerchief, least her brother in law started doing something outrageous like trying to lick her face clean. "It's normal." She wiped her eyes and blew her nose.  She moved to sit besides Raditz rather than on his lap.

"Don't Saiyans cry?" She asked.

"We have a capacity for it," Raditz admitted. "But aside from babies, who cannot yet communicate otherwise, it's discouraged."

"It's not healthy, I mean discouraging crying," Chichi argued. 

"I don't know about that, but letting someone exploit your weak moments or having your allies think less of you is even more unhealthy."

"What do you do when someones cry? Don't you care?"

"Depends. We do help when a small cub cries. Or at least the people in charge of them. They can't communicate otherwise, or fix their problems, so someone has sort it up, whatever it is, or the brat just won't stop. But even our young are though." Raditz explained. "Otherwise... for the Saiyans, who are older... we ignore tears or beat some sense into them."

"That's horrible, you must do that!"

"Don't humans scorn others who show such weakness?"

"No, no, it's not a weakness to cry, and even it is, doesn't mean we should think of others any worse for it, much less mistreat them. You see they have dignity. Their emotions too. You shouldn't violate that."

"I've heard that word somewhere. Is dignity like pride?"

Chichi hesitated "A little bit yes, but not quite." She didn't know how to explain something like that to Raditz who came from completely alien culture, with no concept of love, and very different ideas about fairness, duties and relationships. "It's more like respect. Every person has it." She thought Raditz had at least some notion of what respect was. "It is something that you have to recognize in others, but in your self as well... er... it's innate and you can't get rid of it, but it can be violated. You shouldn't hurt others, because they possess the dignity. It's hard to explain on abstract examples." 

"You are right. It's hard for me to understand. Is it like respect for being... for just being?" 

"Yes," Chichi asserted. It was a good way to put it.

"Even if they are not strong and don't follow the worthy ways of warriors?" Raditz inquired dubiously. 

"Yes." Chichi felt they were getting somewhere. "You must recognize the dignity of others and show them basic respect, that means you can't harm them or enslave them, or treat them as lesser beings."

"I'm forbidden from harming humans either way," Raditz responded after a short consideration. "This is very new to me, but I think I understand the rules of this planet a little better now." He paused and they sat in silence for a  moment. "Do you think I have this dignity as well?"

The question took Chichi aback. "Yes... yes of course, every person has it!"

"Do you think of me as a person, then?"

"What kind of question is it? Of course you are, it's obvious?"

"Is it?"

It suddenly occurred to Chichi that it wasn't. The Earthlings, including herself, when she initially learned about his existence,  didn't really thought about Raditz as a person at first,  just as a threat, a monster. And the inhabitants of other planets, must he seen him as such as well. It was, if not outright his fault, at least caused by his own actions. But regardless, it could have mess up his sense of self. Plus from what she gathered, the nefarious organisation Raditz had been involved with, had generally treated Saiyans poorly and with a lot of prejudices. 

"What do you think about yourself?" Chichi asked softly. She took Raditz's hand in her own. "How would you like to to be treated?"

Raditz blinked at her surprised and stared measuring her intentions.

"I have't thought much about it. I can talk. I mean use the language and understand it. That's something like a quality of a person. I just don't think most of my life qualifies... But I like being treated like a person... I think."

Chich squeezed his hand reassuringly. "It's all right we will treat you that way."

Raditz gently squeezed her hand back and responded with a smile. "Sure."

They sat in silence for a bit. 

"Why were you crying, though?" Raditz asked eventually.

"I... it was emotional." To be true she didn't know how to answer this question. 

Raditz snorted. "I'm capable of understanding that much. But what was that?"

"Grief... Unimaginable grief," Chichi answered finally. "After my husband and after a like we should have together. It wasn't supposed to be like this. When we married... I was sure we are going to grow old together, rise children together and be happy. We were supposed to support one another no matter what comes. And now I'm alone and it's too much sometimes. You must think I'm pathetic." 

Was that a trick question? Raditz didn't know what this strange warrior from Earth expect from him now and she obviously expected something. His first impulse was to agree with her, but he sensed it would be a 'wrong' answer.

From their first meeting onward she did not appear weak, although he could tell that her organism was very delicate and frail in comparison to a Saiyan. However she commanded respect and authority by her sheer presence, making warriors far stronger than her follow her instructions.  He thought it was such a shame she withdrawn from fighting to keep the house. Raditz understood combat was not a primary interest for humans and certainly not for his new little sister, but damn with a right training she had a making of a great general. He didn't even know what to think about her tears - Saiyan children old enough to understand speech were shamed for crying, but what would it even mean for an adult? He didn't knew, he had never saw an adult Saiyan shed tears like that. Had Nappa cried after their Planet had been destroyed? Raditz did not remembered ever seeing him. He didn't know how to judge behaviour like that especially in an alien. 

"I think..." Raditz began. "I don't know how this feels to an alien like you. I don't know if grief is powerful feeling and has to be tempered by the release of tears. I can't really judge this. But, fuck, I don't like it that you think you are alone." 

"I..." Chichi stuttered. "I didn't mean it like that. The thing is being with your spouse is different than having other people around, even your own child or dear friends. It makes you lonely when that person is not besides you, even if others are."

"What's a spouse? is that like a 'husband'?"

"Yes. The spouse is the person you marry, your husband or wife."

"I never knew you can be a special kind of lonely, just because the lack of one person." 

"You can." ChiChi assured. The exhaustion from crying and the cold air of the season combined made her shudder a little, even though she she sat next to Raditz, who was like a walking heater. 

"The boys can be back any time," she said thinking about Gohan, her Dad and Broly. "I better prepare something warm."

"Get yourself some more cloth to wear, I'll make us something warm." Raditz stood up. 

"You should probably put on some more clothes as well, " Chichi remarked - Saiyans tended to under dress in her experience, case at point Raditz wore just his underwear and a t-shirt (he was due for another lecture than underwear and and pants/shorts were not interchangeable). He didn't even have socks on, just a pair of slippers (which was already a progress from walking around the house bare footed or in his boots).

 "No thanks, it's warm in here." Raditz waved her off and went to the kitchen. 

* * *

Raditz cooked them heavy meat brought, full of various herbs. And molasses. Way too much molasses. He started preparing other food as well, but chichi took over before he managed to season them in accordance to Saiyan tastes. 

Chichi didn't mind much (perhaps because of her pregnancy), but her Dad banned Raditz from cooking.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hey, you can interact with me, ask questions, tell me what you liked about the story or what you didn't. It would be really cool.


	9. Chapter 9

Chichi entered the ling room, but stopped in the doorway. She wanted to observed her family, such as it was now, for a bit without intruding their antics.

Broly laid on his back on the carpet and baby Goten had been lain on his broad chest. Chichi concluded it was because Broly refused to hold Goten for fear of accidentally hurting the baby, while Raditz insisted baby need to get to know all of the "safe" people and their scents, or something along those lines. Chichi's Dad sat on his one side, while Raditz and Gohan on the other. They've been discussing the baby's upbringing.

"You need to let him exercise," Raditz said. "Even his tail; like this:" he held out his hand near baby's bottom and soon enough a little tail started to explore it, possibly trying to wrap itself around the fingers. 

"Can I do this?" Gohan asked.

"As long as you don't grab and squeeze his tail it's alright," Raditz answered prompting Gohan  to reach out and gently intermingle his finger's with Goten's tiny tail.

"What will happen if it's squeezed?"

Raditz winced uncomfortably in response.

"Does it hurt?" 

"No, it doesn't. The thing is... well... only thing it would do to a baby is to make them lose all energy and go to sleep immediately."

"Wouldn't it be useful when baby cries and doesn't want go to sleep?"

"No! You can't do that!" Raditz was adamant. "Not unless there are enemies looking for you and you absolutely need to keep the baby calm."

"It's agreed upon rule among the Saiyans that you never grab anyone's tail and in fact you don't even touch it without permission," Brolly supplied. "Though there are some exceptions," he admitted. 

"If you are baby's caretaker, you can touch the baby's tail, because baby can't agree or disagree to anything and you need to touch their tail to properly care for them. You need to keep it clean and  train it. And the's a trick for calming the baby with the tail, that does not include squeezing, though it won't work if the baby is hungry or in pain," Raditz added. Chichi knew this one already. It was one of the reasons she considered letting her younger son keep his tail at least for a time being. 

"And you can touch someone's tail with your own if they are your friends." Broly declared and immediately demonstrated by wrapping his tail around Raditz's.

"That's because vertebrae in the tail don't let you squeeze another's tail hard enough to bother them," Raditz explained.

"Is squeezing really so bad for you guys?" Gohan asked curiously. "It doesn't hurt, right?" I frowned slightly.

"I'd preferred it hurt," Raditz answered. He withdrawn slightly from others.

From her place by the door frame Chichi sow his hand were trembling slightly.

"Why is that?" Gohan looked at him puzzled. 

Raditz stood up abruptly and turned away. "It messes up with your head." He mumbled and walked towards the door. 

"Wha..." Gohan started but Broly caught him by the hand before the boy could finished and shook his head. Raditz past Chichi barely sparing her a glance.  

"Have I said something wrong?" Gohan asked.

"I don't know sweetie," Chichi said. "He looked upset."

"Should I go after him and apologize?" Gohan mused.

"Let him be..." Broly replied. "It's just you kept talking about pulling tails. He doesn't like that."

"Why? has something bad happen?"

Broly squirmed on his place on the ground. "I don't know and I don't want to."

"Where did he go?" Ox King asked.

"He's on the roof." Gohan answered.

"That's good." Broly nodded. An awkward silence followed.

"Why?" Chichi started the conversation again. "Aren't you interested? Isn't he your friend? Don't you want to help?"

"You don't get it!" Broly snarled, which would be probably much more intimidating if he wan't laying flat on the floor with a baby on his chest. "This is shameful for a Saiyan - having your weakness taken advantage of like that. I only care to know what happened if I'm killing the one who did this," he stated reminding everyone he was a Saiyan after all. 

"And you think killing someone, who hurt Raditz would make him happy?" Chichi asked incredulously. 

"It would make me happy knowing that Raditz won't ever again have to be in their presence. But I don't wanna know it. I don't want him to feel ashamed around me."

Chichi sighed. "Would you be so kind and explain more about tails to us? I think it's best if we understand what is going on." Goten started fussing so she lift him up. She hold him how Raditz showed her, gently coiled his tail around his body and rubbed his lower back. He quickly quieted down again.

Freed from the baby Broly sat up.  He considered the question of a moment. Raditz never allowed Broly to put a hand on his tail, even though he let him touch practically everywhere else. He even declined any offer to groom it, and he avoided talking about the issue. Frankly Broly didn't blame him, even though he felt... rejected, despite the fact Raditz would happily give him all the tail care he needed.  If he was to be honest with himself just making speculation about what happened to the other Saiyan was uncomfortable and here Earthlings were expecting an explanation from him. But he didn't want Raditz to get upset again. 

Broly scratched his head. "Raditz knows more about Saiyan biology and Saiyan customs than me. I never lived among our people and I only know what Paragus... chose to teach me." He looked at Earthlings - they listened to him keenly. Chichi nodded to him to continue. "But tails are very important to us, so I've been taught about their significance. This a secret to the outsiders, but I guess it's alright to tell you, grabbing and squeezing tails renders Saiyans completely powerless and unable to move. It is a taboo to do so to the other Saiyan, and punishments for transgression of this rule are vicious. You can't even wrap out hand all around the tail - it's forbidden. If you are allowed to touch other's tail for grooming, medical diagnose or pleasure you do it with open palm or fingers. Even the clothes or decoration that fully encircle the tail are prohibited, except to mark a shameful crime."

"You wear cloth around your tail sometimes, don't you?" Gohan interrupted him curiously. 

Broly shook his head. "I wear it lengthwise - that's permitted. You can put your tail under a tunic or whatever you're wearing if it's more comfortable for you. But you can't wear any rings or ribbons."

"But what about holes in clothes?" Ox King interjected.

"That... well it's different because the tails goes through the opening; and it should be big enough not to touch the tail at least not on the all sides at once... But that not so important now." Broly scowled annoyed by meaningless digression. "There are very few exceptions - grabbing opponent's tail can be a part of the training if it's established before hand  or... punishment can involve pulling and squeezing of tail. But you need to understand this: it is very shameful kind of punishment for someone who does not deserve recognition." 

"When a Saiyan is recognized by others as a proper warrior they are taught how to overcome tail weakness. This usually happens after first or second victory in a real battle as an adult or if you show exceeding battle prowess regardless of the circumstances. Your House decides you are worthy and they teach you. If they don't it means they think you are below others. So if your superiors decide to punish you like that it's really shameful. It means you are not worth a proper punishment for a warrior and you deserve to be shamed. And it's awful. Once they grab your tail you can do nothing. They can beat you up or torture you and you can't even move a finger. They can demean and ridicule you and you can't defend yourself. They can even permanently cripple you or kill you and you just let that all happen," Broly explained bitterly.  

Chichi shuddered. That really sounded terrifying. "Do you think this is what happened to Raditz?" She asked. Raditz reaction earlier got her worried. It wan't like him. He was always casual, flippant even, about any injury or harm that happened to him in the past. He only recently become less brazen about it. Chichi wasn't sure if it was a curtsy towards her sensibilities or if he was just uncomfortable with humans' reaction to his stories. She was scared. She knew Gohan didn't remember it clearly but Goku told her what happened during the battle with Raditz that day. And it's struck her now that was the one thing Raditz glossed over when he gave her his account of the story. She didn't want her husband to be guilty and she wasn't sure how to best handle the potential source of conflict in her family.  

Broly snarled exasperated. "I told you I don't know. Someone could find this weakness in a battle for all I know. Do you want me to murder Vegeta, because I'd do it for far less." He was giving Chichi a sullen look now. 

 

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm going to continue this, but feel really depressed and I just need to finish something to get a bit of the sense of accomplishment... and my sleeping schedule is getting worse and worse. Any way, comments would be appreciated.
> 
> Just to clarify, the thing with grabbing tails is not intended as an allegory or a metaphor for anything in particular. I just figure the experience may cause lasting problems to Saiyans and that it most likely has quite a cultural significance for them. Again, depending on individual and on the circumstances the extent of how much it affected them may vary greatly. 
> 
> Also you can talk to me here, on my [Tumblr](http://darkfalcon-z.tumblr.com/) or [DeviantArt](https://www.deviantart.com/darkfalcon-z) (yeah I still have this one).


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